At present for the purpose of cladding, in particular the ceilings of interiors of aircraft, individual ceiling panels are used which at points of affixation are attached to overhead bins or to structural regions arranged above them. For cladding, a ceiling and a multitude of separate ceiling panels are necessary, whose production is involved and cost-intensive as a result of the required lightweight design. Likewise, the individual alignment of the individual ceiling panels is of decisive importance and for this purpose in the state of the art special systems are frequently developed and used. The complexity and the expenditure for producing conventional ceiling cladding of an aircraft are thus very considerable.
DE 10 2007 011 627 A1 and WO 08 090 084 A2 show interior cladding for an aircraft, in which interior cladding the cladding panels are attached so as to be essentially horizontal or approximately vertical on a lining framework that comprises profiles for connection to a fuselage cell. DE 101 27 879 A1, EP 1 557 355 B1 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,547,184 show a passenger cabin of a commercial aircraft, which passenger cabin comprises fitting components and cladding components, for example individual lateral cladding components and individual ceiling cladding panels. From EP 1 452 397 A1 a vehicle ceiling structure comprising individual ceiling panels is known. The ceiling panels comprise a frame onto which an elastic fabric is stretched taut, and arranged in the interior of the frame an illumination element. The above-mentioned disadvantages result from the necessity to produce individual frames and to position them correctly in the interior of the aircraft.
Furthermore, in the state of the art it is common for illumination devices to be arranged on each individual ceiling panel so that for individual modifications of the illumination concept by an aircraft operator it is practically impossible, in the context of producing a standardized design based on series production of the aircraft, to implement an economical solution. Because of the use of individual ceiling panels and because of unavoidable changes in the length of the aircraft between individual operating phases, furthermore regular gaps between ceiling panels are necessary, by means of which gaps the changes in length can be compensated for. Moreover, the gaps need to be sealed with very flexible sealing elements in order to prevent dripping condensed water from entering the interior of the aircraft. This could overall result in an imbalanced and non-uniform external appearance.
In view of the foregoing, at least one object is to provide a cladding apparatus for an interior of an aircraft, which cladding apparatus obviates the need to produce individual separate ceiling panels and to have to attach them precisely in predetermined installation positions on a cabin ceiling or the like of an aircraft. Equally, at least another object is to provide such cladding apparatus that is as economical as possible to produce, is of a lightweight design, and can be installed with little expenditure quickly and reliably in the interior. In addition, other objects, desirable features, and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description, and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.